Hospital staff in tears as blundering manager wrongly tells them their jobs are at risk

Hundreds of health workers were left devastated and in tears after a blundering boss wrongly told them their jobs were at risk. Staff in the radiology department at Pennine Acute Trust – which runs hospitals in Rochdale, Bury, Oldham and North Manchester – were called to briefings and told by the junior manager that one in four jobs were being axed as part of a bid to save £140m over five years.

Hundreds of health workers were left devastated and in tears after a blundering boss wrongly told them their jobs were at risk.

Staff in the radiology department at Pennine Acute Trust – which runs hospitals in Rochdale, Bury, Oldham and North Manchester – were called to briefings and told by the junior manager that one in four jobs were being axed as part of a bid to save £140m over five years.

Staff wept as they heard 60 posts from around 240 would be lost – with the first jobs going as soon as April.

All staff were being told by trust chiefs today that the information was wrong and the manager had held the briefings without any authorisation. An investigation has been launched and the M.E.N. understands the hospital manager, Mark Carmichael, is facing disciplinary action.

One worker said: “I am stunned. The documents were very thorough and it seemed like a very planned announcement.”

A trust spokesman admitted the first they knew about the briefings was when they were contacted by the M.E.N.

He apologised to the staff and said they had no plans to slash posts in radiology.

The spokesman said: “To be clear, no proposals for disinvestment or job reductions in our radiology services have been received or formally considered.

“We understand a manager within the radiology department has held a series of meetings with staff about efficiency savings and staffing levels without any knowledge or authorisation from his divisional director or executive management.

“The circumstances of these meetings is now being investigated. We are obviously very disappointed and regret this has happened, and most importantly, we wish to apologise to the staff who attended these meetings for the anxiety and upset this has caused.”

Staff said they were called to meetings at noon and presented with a business plan for 2011 to 2015. Although the trust, which runs Rochdale Infirmary, Fairfield General in Bury, the Royal Oldham and North Manchester General, said it had no plans to cut jobs in radiology, chief executive John Saxby admitted there would be a ‘significant’ reduction in the trust’s 9,000-strong workforce.

In October, chiefs announced that they needed to slash £120m from their budget over the next five years. But the M.E.N. can reveal that they now have to save an extra £22.5m next year because of inflation and soaring agency bills.